An early start!

I did what I will need to do on the Camino if I end up walking in Spain in the summer... I got up early! By quarter past six I was parked at my friend's place and began the 22km or so walk around onto Greens Rd and back down Kahuterawa Rd.

I am still a bit besotted with rural letterboxes: I like the way this 'standard plastic' one has been turned into a 'whale'!

Today on Tiritea Rd I found the lower entrance onto the green corridors part of the path, which meanders near the stream. (I had missed the sign last time, but today I found it, somewhat obscured by the long grass that has grown.) There were even lovely seats to sit on near the stream: one day when I am doing a shorter more relaxed walk, I will sit on them! It will be interesting to see how much the trees have grown in two more years. Some people are doing wonderful work here.

The only 'issue' with taking the corridors path was that I did need to cross the stream three times. Not that I mind crossing streams - I quite like it. But at one crossing my shoes got very drenched and I squelched along for a while after that. The interesting result of adding 'moisture' to the mix was that I ended up with a small blister, in an unexpected place, and I haven't had any other blisters before with these shoes/socks. Next time I might carry a change of socks.

Below is a view of the farmland part of the Greens Rd route. This track really does get up into the hills near PN.

There were quite a few mountain bikers on Greens Rd today, also out early-ish to avoid the heat. Here are two disappearing rapidly into the distance, on one of the few descents in this direction, until you drop back down to Kahuterawa Rd.

And when I got home I had a siesta. Then my rest was interrupted by a phone call for a Colmar-Brunton survey of some kind that I never bothered to find the reason for. Don't those surveyers pick the worst times to ring??!!

OK this is my blog and I'll do a rant if I want to! You are free to ignore it - you have been warned!! It was "Carols by Candlelight" in the Square in town this evening. Now, I haven't even been to this often, but I have been when the Sally Army basically did all the music and sang lots of carols with lots of verses, and not much talking in the middle. And the atmosphere has been lovely. Now it appears that the fundys have taken over with their ra-ra stuff. It was advertised to start at 8pm, but when I arrived at 8.15pm I had to listen through Miss Teen NZ being interviewed (not sure what that has to do with Christmas) and some ra ra proselytising singing. At 8.30pm the carols got underway, and the Sallies only had a very brief section, with lots of ra ra commentary in between and not many verses of many of the carols. Then we got the ra ra fundy group that repeated some of the same carols. And lots of ra ra commentary. So I left early. Give me lots of carols by the Sallies and less of the ra ra. Actually, it won't matter.... cos I won't return again. Maybe the Sallies will have their own event somewhere sometime......

And just so I don't end on too sour a note. I did see quite a few kids from school there. And some of them were having a wow of a time dancing etc. So it's just old fogeys like me maybe who have our noses out of joint;-)